What if all the major Marvel Kung-Fu heroes were women? That’s what John Byrne asked in this early 1975 gag from FOOM #9.
Shang-Chi would have been called Shang-She, Iron Fist morphed into Iron Fist, and even Fu Manchu trans-gendered into Su Manchu.
Perhaps these characters exist on the same Earth as Marvel’s Femizons along with Thundra. Nuff said.
The sad news hit the internet today that David Carradine is dead. Some reports are saying that he hanged himself in a Bangkok hotel room, which is even more tragic.
David Carradine was one of my heroes growing up. I watched Kung Fu every week. Even though I loved the slow motion action, I also loved the flashback scenes in China and Caine's philosophy of peace that he tried to teach savage Americans. I asked my brother-in-law to take me to see Death Race 2000 because I was such a fan of Carradine. I was disappointed when he faded into obscurity after Kung Fu's demise, but I was really thrilled when Quentin Tarentino cast Carradine as the Big Bad in Kill Bill. Carradine proved his acting chops when he delivered that Superman/Clark Kent speech that Tarentino wrote.
Naturally, being a Marvel Comics addict, my memory flashes back to this 1974 Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #4 cover...
Neal Adams did an awesome job of recreating Carradine's likeness as Caine.
Rest in Peace, David Carradine. Nuff said.
In the early 70s, Marvel's goal was clearly to compete with all other graphic-related magazines. They were taking on Warren with the monster mags (Dracula Lives, Vampire Tales, Monsters Unleashed, etc). Marvel also went after Mad and Cracked with the humor magazine CRAZY in 1973. Edited by Marv Wolfman, issue #7 (1974(1974) featured this cover taking on David Carradine's Kung Fu character:
ABC's Kung Fu TV series featured David Carradine as Kwai Chang Caine, a half Chinese, half American dude who wandered the Old West in search of his long lost brother. In each episode, Caine would encounter any number of racist cowboys who wanted to skin him alive. Luckily, he was trained by Shaolin monks to be an expert in Kung Fu! The show was a huge hit on TV when it premiered in 1972. My schoolmates raved about each episode the next day.
The show was so big, Marvel did two parodies of it! Crazy #7 was the second one, with art by Marie Severin. The first was the lead story in Crazy #1 (1973) with nice art by Mike Ploog. The opening scene makes a great joke dead on target--Kung Fu always recycled some Western movie plot cliché that Caine would get involved in during the episode. Widow having her cattle rustled? Caine would fight the rustlers and save the cattle.
The success of the Kung Fu TV show definitely prodded Marvel into the genre and gave us Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, and the White Tiger. It also had an impact on Quentin Tarentino, who gave Samuel Jackson that famous line at the end of Pulp Fiction: "You know, walk the earth, meet people...get into adventures. Like Caine from Kung Fu." Nuff said.
This Marvel Treasury-sized special “Savage Fists of Kung Fu” was published in 1975, with a cover by Gil Kane featuring Shang-Chi, Iron Fist, and the Sons of the Tiger.
This monster featured stories from Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, in full color for the first time and reprinted in a large format. When King-Size or Giant-Size is not enough, Marvel goes Treasury-sized! Nuff said.
The Sons of the Tiger series in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu languished in obscurity for the first 18 issues. Bill Mantlo and George Perez brought new energy into the story when they explored the cosmic power behind the Tiger amulets that gave them their special kung-fu power, but it never really took off.
In DHKF 19, after a terrific fight between lead characters Lin Sun and Bob Diamond, the Sons of the Tiger disband. They throw away their mystical Tiger amulets…in a New York City alleyway! Kind of dumb, isn’t it? Would Doctor Strange just throw away the Eye of Agomotto in the garbage? The Sons loss was Hector Ayala’s gain when he stumbled across the amulets, put them around his neck, and transformed into the White Tiger.
The White Tiger went into action in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #20. Suddenly the series was super-charged and the story was more exciting than it had been during the past two years. Hector was the first Puerto Rican superhero ever created, and George Perez was obviously proud of bringing him to life. Hector was introduced with a girlfriend and a family that lived in the South Bronx, drawn from Perez’s own experience living in the city.
The White Tiger was a mysterious character. He appeared to have a personality completely distinct from Hector in the first few stories. As time went on, they would become more integrated.
The Tiger was an instant hit with the DHKF readership. He appeared on two covers of the magazine. Bill Mantlo made a decision to integrate the Tiger with the Marvel Universe by having him fight the Prowler and Mantlo’s own creation, the Jack of Hearts.
The Tiger’s serialized story climaxed in DHKF #31, featuring the biggest Marvel Kung Fu team-up in history: the Tiger, Shang-Chi, and Iron Fist, with Jack of Hearts riding shotgun.
DHKF #32 featured the White Tiger’s last appearance before the magazine was cancelled. He met the original Sons of the Tiger, who remained a sub-plot throughout the past 10 issues. I had waited to see what would happen when the Sons discovered that Hector possessed the Tiger amulets—would they want them back? Would Hector have to fight to keep them? Perhaps arrange some kind of Tiger amulet timesharing deal? Fortunately, Mantlo never had to answer the question…that was the end of the White Tiger’s solo stories.
But it wasn’t the end of the White Tiger in the Marvel universe. Bill Mantlo brought Hector Ayala into Marvel’s color comics in Peter Parker, Spectacular Spider-Man #9, circa 1977. The story involved Empire State University cancelling night school, and a storm of protesters who work during the day! The White Tiger springs into action against corrupt ESU officials, and in one of those usual comedy of errors, winds up fighting Spidey.
George Perez penciled the covers on this two issue story, and I have always admired the cover to Peter Parker #10. Everything about this composition seems near-perfect: the White Tiger kicking Spider-Man off the ledge, the New York City skyline, the sunset, and the feeling of vertigo as they appear to be fighting far above the street.
The White Tiger would continue making sporadic appearances in the Marvel universe, most oddly in the Human Fly #8-9 in 1978.
If you can’t tell by now, I always liked the White Tiger. When Marvel started publishing mini-series in the 1980s, I hoped that Mantlo and Perez would produce a White Tiger mini. Even if that was desirable, it would have been impossible to schedule, with Perez busy drawing Teen Titans for DC Comics. In many interviews with George Perez, he’s repeatedly stated his fondness for Hector Ayala. Nuff said.
When characters like Spider-Man, Conan, X-Men, Punisher, and Wolverine become popular, what's the next step for Mighty Marvel to take?
Spin them off into a number of books to maximize their profit! Soon after Shang-Chi appeared in Special Marvel Edition #15, Bullpen Bulletins announced the launch of a brand new black and white magazine...The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu!
The cover to issue #1 featured a dynamic cover by Neal Adams, which depicted a Kung Fu character kicking the shit out of a much larger opponent. The character looked like Bruce Lee and the scene looked like it was ripped from his most famous movie, Enter the Dragon. This cover was so popular that Marvel sold it as a poster.
Neal Adams covers really helped sell DHKF magazine. He executed a series of them inspired by TV/Movies, including David Carradine's Kung Fu series, Roger Moore as James Bond (from a scene in The Man With the Golden Gun), and the Trial of Billy Jack. For a look at some of these Neal Adams covers, see my article on Photon Torpedoes.
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu actually had the least story content of any Marvel magazine. Kung Fu was a new genre and there were no reprints Marvel could use. Their writers and artists were straining just to fill Master of Kung Fu and Iron Fist with new stories in the color comics. Each issue of Deadly Hands would feature a lead Shang-Chi story and a back-end story with the Sons of the Tiger. In-between these stories would be a number of articles on Kung Fu inspired TV shows and movies, articles on actors like Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris, or articles about the practice of martial arts. The articles are quite good, especially if you are fan of 70s Kung Fu movies, as they interviewed many actors who starred in them.
Iron Fist smashed his way into Deadly Hands in issue #10, in a story originally meant for his own black and white magazine. Iron Fist was always drawn by Rudy Nebres when he appeared in DHKF. He displaced Shang-Chi as the lead character for six issues (19-24).
The Sons of the Tiger backup strip was clearly inspired by the three lead characters in Enter the Dragon. Take three Kung Fu guys--an Asian dude who looks like Bruce Lee, a butt kicking Black dude, and a white guy who is also a movie actor--give them mystical Tiger amulets that triples their power when joined together--and you've got a Kung Fu super-team. This series floundered for a while, but when Bill Mantlo and George Perez took it over, it started to be more interesting. Perez was early in his career and just starting to develop his skills. Mantlo and Perez introduced the White Tiger in Deadly Hands #20, a Puerto Rican guy who got a hold of all three tiger amulets after the Sons disbanded.
The funny thing about Deadly Hands is that I remember only a handful of stories. The first two Shang-Chi stories clearly stand out, as they were written by Steve Englehart. The only Iron Fist story that stands out was in DHKF #18, by Mantlo with Pat Broderick, and Terry Austin, who did a terrific job on the art. Iron Fist teams up with the Sons of the Tiger and stops a subway train from running over Abe using his glowing hand. Chris Claremont and Marshall Rogers' Daughters of the Dragon story in DHKF #32-33, that took Iron Fist supporting characters Colleen Wing and Misty Knight to lead roles as butt kicking heroines, was another standout.
The supreme Deadly Hands moment occurred in issue #21, when I saw this terrific splash page by George Perez featuring the White Tiger. I couldn't--and still cannot--get over the the painstaking detail of the buildings in the cityscape and the clever use of the White Tiger logo on the buildings. From this moment on, I knew Perez was an artist with enormous potential, and followed him to any comic that he drew. I also admired the design of the White Tiger's costume. He was a mysterious character. You can see more White Tiger Deadly Hands covers on Photon Torpedoes.
DHKF even had its own version of a King-Sized Annual, a Special Album Edition in 1974. It really cost a heckuva lot more. Whereas the regular mag cost 75 cents, the Album was a quarter extra! It was mostly reprint material from previous issues.
Deadly Hands of Kung Fu lasted only 33 issues and less than 3 years, but it clearly made on impact on fans who later become professional writers. I couldn't have been more surprised when Hector Ayala, the White Tiger, appeared in Brian Bendis' Daredevil as a defendant represented by Matt Murdock. (Of course, I was disappointed when Bendis killed him off!) Jason Aaron brought the Sons of the Tiger back in the Wolverine Manifest Destiny series. Nuff said.
There was no doubt about it--the Kung Fu craze had taken over Mighty Marvel in 1973-75. A few months after Shang-Chi premiered, we saw this teaser in the Bullpen Bulletins page:
Iron Fist is coming! There was also a secret coded message that had to be decoded using a key found in FOOM. It was a tantalizing image, and he looked very different from Shang-Chi.
On a cold winter day in February 1974, I picked up Marvel Premiere #15 in a store called "The Book Cache" in Anchorage, Alaska. The origin of Daniel Rand was beautifully executed by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. Whereas Shang-Chi broke the Marvel mold of a superhero (becoming a straight action hero), Iron Fist was a hero in the classic Marvel manner, as Iron Fist he:
Thomas has said in an interview that the origin of Iron Fist was inspired by the Amazing Man character (created by Bill Everett). Danny Rand's training in K'un L'un that culminates in him fighting Shou-Lao the Undying and attaining the power of the Iron Fist is very much akin to Amazing Man acquiring the power of the Green Mist. Gil Kane came up with the idea of using this origin structure for Iron Fist.
Unfortunately, Thomas and Kane only worked on the debut issue of Iron Fist. A number of writers handled the character from Marvel Premiere #16 to issue 22: Len Wein (1 issue), Doug Moench (3 issues), and Tony Isabella (3 issues). The stories basically involved Danny Rand coming to the United States, confronting Harold Meachum (the man who killed his father), and meeting Colleen Wing.
It wasn't until Chris Claremont took over as the writer of Iron Fist (in Marvel Premiere #23) that the character started to shine. Claremont was given a clean slate and able to put Iron Fist in action against super-villains. In 1975, Iron Fist #1 was published, and Claremont was joined by his magically talented artist-partner: John Byrne. Together, they made Iron Fist come alive in a way we had never seen before. Danny Rand fought Iron Man in issue #1, took on the Wrecking Crew, and beat down SabreTooth, who made his first appearance in Iron Fist #14.
Iron Fist lost his own color comic after issue 15, with a memorable guest appearance by the X-Men, where Danny proved he could hold his own against Wolverine. When the X-Men later took off in popularity, the back issue prices for Iron Fist #14 and #15 went through the roof.
Claremont developed all the elements that make Iron Fist a great character for the Marvel universe. He introduced Misty Knight, the cyborg arm wielding woman who later became Danny's girlfriend. He also added to the mythology surrounding K'un L'un, suggesting that ruler Yu Ti had ulterior motives that weren't so honorable. Claremont also showed that the Iron Fist power could be used for more than just smashing things--Danny used it to heal himself in issue 4. Ed Brubaker and Matt Fraction took these story elements and developed them further in the 2007 Immortal Iron Fist series.
Iron Fist even leaped into Marvel's black and white magazine line. Marvel initially announced that a black and white "Iron Fist #1" magazine would be published in September 1974. I saw an advertisement for the cover of this magazine, but was unable to find a picture of it for this article. In FOOM, there was an interview with Tony Isabella about the co-feature, titled "Dragons Two" about a brother-sister team with Kung Fu abilities.
Iron Fist #1 (the magazine) was never published. Marvel reconsidered, either thinking that the magazine market would not support two Kung Fu titles, or perhaps that Iron Fist's color comic sales weren't as great as Master of Kung Fu.
In Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #9, we saw this beautiful Iron Fist pin-up by Rudy Nebres. The "movie-length saga" by Nebres and Tony Isabella, intended for Iron Fist #1, was published in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #10 (1975). Iron Fist returned in Deadly Hands of Kung Fu issues 19 to 24, in a six part epic by Chris Claremont, with Nebres on the art as well. Doing the research for this article, I discovered a new appreciation for Rudy Nebres art.
Iron Fist survived into the 1980s by teaming up with Luke Cage in Power Man/Iron Fist, but was lost from the Marvel universe after a pointless death at the end of that series. Thankfully, he was revived by John Byrne in Namor and restored back to glory by Brubaker, Fraction, and Aja in 2007. Nuff said.
Steve Englehart and Jim Starlin may have given birth to Shang-Chi, but it was Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy who performed the baptism on Master of Kung Fu. OK, that’s in conflict with Eastern philosophy, but I heard Carlos Pacheco say that about Stan Lee and Roy Thomas, and I’ve been eager to steal it ever since.
As a kid, I followed writers with a passion. Steve Englehart was my favorite writer of early 70s Marvel Comics, working on Avengers, Defenders, and Dr. Strange. I followed him everywhere and bought everything he wrote, even that single issue of Skull the Slayer. When I read that Englehart was leaving MOKF, I was heartbroken.
Doug Moench was a relatively new writer when he took over the series. Moench had already proven to Marvel editorial that he could produce material very quickly for various comics and magazines. He was given the daunting task of writing up to 70 pages of new material (in certain months) for Shang-Chi as he appeared in three different publications. His early scripts had plenty of action and cool Bondian deathtraps. Paul Gulacy honed his cinematic action chops by bringing these stories to life. Both men were learning their craft, getting ready to take Master of Kung Fu to the next level.
The MOKF true believers were rewarded for their loyalty when issue 29 appeared, promising “a volatile new direction” and it did not lie! The splash page by Gulacy was executed with the finesse of a movie poster. Moench had been building Shang-Chi’s supporting cast with Sir Denis Nayland Smith’s team: Black Jack Tarr and Clive Reston. Shang-Chi would hook up with them in order to stop Fu Manchu’s latest madcap plot, but he was still a loner. 2 years of stories centered around Shang-Chi’s conflict with his father had made the stories old and tired.
With a bit of persuading by Smith, Shang-Chi becomes as a full time member of British Intelligence agency MI-6. Smith tells Shang-Chi that pursuing Fu Manchu isn’t his only responsibility—he also takes down white guys! Bondian villains with lairs as big as Hearst Castle or an island populated by Disney-like robots who kill. Moench and Gulacy began to produce 3 issue mini-epics, each featuring a different baddie. The first one was named Velcro—a weird name for an international drug dealer.
Shang-Chi’s physical adversaries became more deadly with this new direction as well. At the end of issue 29, he encounters Razor-Fist, one crazy mofo who had his forearms chopped off and replaced by machetes. Razor-Fist promised to slice and dice the unarmed Shang-Chi, ensuring that all MOKF readers would snap up issue 30 the minute it hit the stands.
Both Moench’s story and Gulacy’s artwork improved with the new direction. It was obvious that Gulacy was inspired by Jim Steranko. Steranko had quit drawing for Marvel years earlier, and fandom had missed that style of artwork. Like Steranko, Gulacy’s pages were incredibly cinematic, from the splash pages to the action sequences that spawned multiple panels. He became an A-list director of his compositions, knowing when to execute a close up and how to portray the agony on Shang-Chi’s face. Gulacy excelled at making his characters resemble famous actors—Shang-Chi at times looked like Bruce Lee, Clive Reston was Sean Connery. Agent James Larner was undoubtedly Marlon Brando.
It helped that in-between arcs, MOKF had one or two issue stories by other artists to give Gulacy time to recover. Suddenly we were witnessing a classic team emerge, on par with Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, or perhaps more akin to Roy Thomas and Barry Smith. Teams that catch artistic lightning in a bottle.
The last story in Moench/Gulacy’s Master of Kung Fu spanned seven issues (44-49), featuring the return of Fu Manchu and his boldest plot ever: destroying the moon from a ginormous space-ship, cleansing the Earth with destruction in order to repopulate it with his sons and daughters. Ya gotta like a man who thinks big and knows how to party!
Master of Kung Fu #49, published in 1976, was the end of the Moench\Gulacy working together on the series. From that point onward, Gulacy would contribute the occasional cover. Moench continued working with artists Mike Zeck and Gene Day until MOKF ended with issue 125. We would have to wait 26 years until they could be brought back to Marvel to produce an excellent six issue mini-series for the Max line.
While the party ended for Master of Kung Fu, Moench and Gulacy’s partnership endured for decades. They collaborated on many different many series, but the most natural outgrowth of their MOKF years was James Bond: Serpent’s Tooth for Dark Horse comics.
I had a friend named Ernie, a fellow devotee of Marvel Comics, who insisted that if Bruce Lee had not died, there would be a Master of Kung Fu movie with Lee portraying Shang-Chi. In our dreams, fueled by Moench & Gulacy, that movie already exists. Nuff said.
Photon Torpedoes: DC Comics, Games, Pop Culture Blog
